Ghost soldiers are the phantom troops that hollow out armies from the inside

Countries & Cities · Published 15 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Ghost soldiers are military personnel who exist only on paper. By keeping non-existent troops on the payroll, corrupt officers siphon off salaries and rations, leaving armies dangerously undermanned. This widespread practice has led to catastrophic military collapses across the globe, from Iraq to Afghanistan, by masking true operational capabilities.

The phenomenon of ghost soldiers involves officers maintaining names of deceased, deserted, or non-existent personnel on official military rolls. This corruption serves two primary functions: it allows commanders to pocket the salaries and supplies allocated for these phantom troops, and it provides a mechanism for soldiers to return to civilian life while still drawing a paycheck. The practice is often systemic, with recruiters inflating numbers to secure personal profit or political favor, as seen in the Uganda People's Defence Force, where an estimated 30% of the force were ghost soldiers in 2006.

The consequences for national security are often terminal. When military leadership relies on inflated rosters, they fundamentally misunderstand their own strength. In Iraq, the 2014 collapse of the army in Mosul saw 60,000 declared soldiers routed by only 1,500 ISIL militants, as the actual number of available troops was closer to 12,000. Similarly, in Afghanistan, the government's 300,000-strong force was largely a fiction. By 2021, former finance minister Khalid Payenda estimated that over 80% of the roster consisted of ghost soldiers, a reality that contributed to the rapid takeover by the Taliban.

Beyond the financial drain—such as the $360 million annual loss discovered in Iraq in 2014—the practice creates a culture of failure. In the Russian military, corruption and misleading reporting contributed to personnel shortages that stalled operations during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In Syria, the 2024 collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime was also linked to weakened brigades riddled with ghost soldiers. Ultimately, the presence of these phantom units ensures that when conflict arrives, the military is far less capable than its paper strength suggests, leading to rapid, disastrous defeats.

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